[Jess Kimball 01.0 - 02.0] Fatal Starts by Diane Capri

Author:Diane Capri [Capri, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: AugustBooks
Published: 2012-11-20T07:00:00+00:00

24

Ocala, Florida

Friday 1:30 p.m.

Jess, Mike and David Manson huddled together in an Ocala bar. Necessity joined them for the moment, a fact that Jess and Manson seemed equally displeased about.

Mike, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. “This is so amazing,” he said, as if he’d qualified for the Olympics. “I can’t believe we’re trying to stop an execution.”

Jess stuffed her irritation. She wouldn’t give Manson anything more to crow about, even Mike’s innocent exuberance. “We’re not trying to stop the execution, Mike—”

“Speak for yourself,” Manson cut in.

“—we’re investigating a rumor,” she said with a scowl. “Don’t get carried away.”

Mike was fairly bouncing in his seat. “But we think there’s some truth to this rumor, don’t we? We think there is some evidence that might stop the execution at least temporarily, right? I mean, otherwise what’s the point?”

Manson’s patience, never long, snapped. “What did that scrawny old woman tell you, Jess? I have a judge standing by, but I’ve got to give him some details and it’ll take me awhile to get the papers together and get them over there. It’s now or never.”

Jess’s lips pressed into a hard line. “David, I wish to God I could do this without you. You are one heartless bastard. You know that, right?”

“Whatever. Spill it.”

She sighed. Jess had avoided this moment as long as she could. “Vivian suggested that Arnold had some physical evidence from the Crawford crime scene with the real killer’s DNA on it.”

Manson’s face flushed with color. He started to rise from the booth. “That crazy old bastard. I knew he was a liar. He didn’t really see Tommy that night, either, did he? I should have hauled his ass before the judge when I had the chance.”

Jess motioned for him to sit down, which he did. “Vivian said you’d tracked it down and approached Arnold about it. She said that’s why Arnold wanted to kill you. Because he thought you’d figure out a way to use what you knew to get Taylor off again, and that meant Taylor would never pay for killing her boys.”

Manson stared at her for a long moment without speaking.

“You know what it is, don’t you?” Mike asked him, fairly leaping across the table toward Manson in excitement. “The evidence Ward had. So what are we gonna do about it?”

Jess placed a restraining hand on Mike’s arm, but her eyes never left Manson’s face. “Whatever it is, David, you’ll never get it from Vivian without me. She hates you almost as much as she hates Tommy Taylor. Arnold died to protect that evidence and she’s not going to let her husband’s sacrifice go to waste. Vivian won’t see you, she won’t talk to you, and she most certainly won’t help you.”

She let the truth of her logic sink into Manson’s thinking and waited for him to decide to meet her halfway. Moments passed like decades.

She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until her chest began to hurt. With a deep breath, she sat back in the seat and played her final card.

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